Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan looks on from the bench during the Badgers' game on Dec. 4 against the Virginia Cavaliers during the Big Ten/ACC Challenge game at John Paul Jones Arena. Wisconsin won 48-38.

Written by

Eric Prisbell
| USA TODAY Sports

When high school coaches across this state visit Wisconsin to watch practice every winter, the same sequence occurs: They see the Badgers pair up - just two players and a ball - and engage in the most rudimentary activity, monotonously passing and catching a basketball.

Then the high school coaches find Wisconsin assistant Lamont Paris to say, "You guys don't have to water things down just because we're here."

"We're not," Paris says. "We do things other teams in the middle of the season don't do. Basics." ...